A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein

I bought this after seeing the 2011 eponymous movie ("A Dangerous Method") which stirred me to get more information about the people in it, especially Spielrein, Gross, Jung, & Freud. Although my PhD is in clinical psychology and I went through a long psychoanalysis ("ego psychology flavor"), all that was before much of the information presented in this book was uncovered and came to light.Kerr's book is based on his PhD dissertation and sometimes seems not far removed from that style. It has patches, like puddles after a scattered heavy rain, that are extremely detailed and which would be tedious reading for any but, e.g., the very few needing those details for their references such as the master's thesis on which they're working. However one can skip over those sections and resume reading where the text resumes a more narrative approach. I'm not sorry at all that I read the book and appreciate that it supplied most of the information I wanted as well as spurring me to find out more.

My mother is delighted with this book, even though it is roughly 700 pages long! She has viewed the DVD a few times, so the book is much easier to comprehend. There's nothing like two great men being revealed as two great, selfish and ego-centric men! Not that great women haven't had their share of ego. Perhaps it's best to understand that those we either admire, or who have done wonders for history in giving us their knowledge, will have the same faults most humans have!

A most fascinating history detailing the public and inner lives of the people in the forefront of psychiatry and clinical psychology in their days . The backgrounds, Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany, complete and in some ways even explain how and why these people became so prominent. It seems to me that Freud and Jung really found a method of self analysis rather than a way to understand their patients. That neither Freud himself nor any of the others ever published a clear scientifically valid "method" in a way is not surprising. To paraphrase Freud's "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar", "sometimes an idea is just an idea". A great read for any member of the profession.

I purchased the dvd of Sabina Spielrein and thought it was fascinating. I believe had these two men combined their efforts, as opposed to going their seperate ways, the world we live in would be a different place. Maybe there is hope for the human race after all. It is a long and intense read, but well worth it...especially if you are interested in how early experiences and instilled belief systems mold our lives forever.

The book reads easily and keeps interest throughout. However, like most American Freud biographies, it ignores the entire critical research effort made by Lacan and his followers, thus remaining within a purely anecdotical (i.e. non-analytical) level. Furthermore, like the movie's final captions, it wholly disregards the hideous collaboration Jung had with the Nazis. The conclusion is that Jung and his followers were extremely succesful in erasing any trace of the former's virulent antisemitic writings and activities (as well as those of the authors he patronized and edited as the President of the German Psychotherapist's Association from 1933 to 1939), consequently preventing the evidence of Nazi ideology in his works to be demonstrated.

I was a psychology major and got my masters in counseling. I read about these guys' thoughts, but had no idea how competitive they were. Also I had no idea about the relationship between them and their patient. After admiring them so much, it came as a shock and a disappointment. I should have kept to the academic stuff. The same thing happened to me when I read "Loving Frank" which was about Frank Loyd Wright. He was not as great as I thought. My illusions have been changed. But it is still a good read.

I had just watched the movie with Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley and was moved to delve more into it.This is not the movie...peices of the movie are in this book but the book far outshines the movie. This is an in depth look at the circumstances surrounding some of the greatest theories of the minds of recent times.

Brilliant acting by Knightly.She was able to truly capture and portray physical/emotional/spiritual sufferings of Spielrein.Mortenson was also brilliant as Freud, did not even recognize him !Jung's character also successfully captured and portrayed.A good base for the understanding of the trio and their works and how Spielrein was never given credit for any of her contributions to the psychoanalytical world.Shows what a male dominated society it was and how in fact Freud and Jung stole and took credit for most of her work.

I came to this book with some trepidation. The Freud-Jung relationship has been examined over the years, often descending into abuse and character assassination by those favouring one, or other, protagonist. To those of us who have found help in ideas of either, or both, it can be painful. In my case it's Jung more than Freud. But both contributed important ideas to the way we look at ourselves.It is to John Kerr's credit that that he cuts though all this with scholarly precision, rising above the fray, without resorting to sensationalism. "A Dangerous Method" is written with an elegance and style sustained through the five hundred odd pages of this story. What is great about both men is on display. But so is the worst. There are bitter pills to swallow which ever way one is inclined.Kerr puts the story into their proper historical perspective of the state: of psychiatry and psychology at the turn of the twentieth century. Freud provided valuable insights into the types of hysteria that were prevalent at the time in Vienna. This was backed up by researches in psychiatric hospitals including ones done by Jung and his colleagues at Zurich, who also made important discoveries of their own. Thus, Freud and Jung, both owed a great deal to each other for getting their ideas recognized as well as both being geniuses. It was, perhaps, inevitable that they would eventually meet and collaborate, though even then there were differences, which meant that eventual split was perhaps equally inevitable.However, as Kerr shows, the split was not solely about ideas. Caught between both was Sabine Spielrein, who emerges as a brilliant thinker in her own right. Yet she seems to have been largely forgotten. This is a shame. From what is shown here, she deserves mention alongside any of the greats. She influenced both Freud, and especially Jung -who discussed his ideas with her- and had her own contribution to make which continued after she had moved on from them.She and Jung were also lovers. Kerr observes this with caution, sticking to documented fact, whilst acknowledging the limits of this method. He looks into whether the relationship was actually sexually consummated, not ignoring the ethical aspect that she had been a patient of Jung's. He is sympathetic to Jung's position when their relationship broke up, but equally sympathetic to the affect it had on her. And, if Jung's behaviour was bad in this respect, a few years later, she was further abused by Freud, who had become her analyst and violated therapeutic confidentiality to try and blackmail Jung at the time of their split. Jung responded by trying to blackmail Freud over a possible affair with his sister-in law.All in all, this is not a pretty story. We derive much psychology from the main protagonists here, and there's a lot of bad behaviour, which as Kerr observes was detrimental to psychoanalysis. Only now are some of the unresolved issues being untangled. This book helps perform this service by putting this bitter squabble into proper perspective, while doing justice to both men, and perhaps more importantly giving Spielrein some of the credit she deserved.

An interesting book. I saw the movie first (which is worth seeing if you haven't, by the way), and noted this it was based on both this book and a play. I did a BA with a psychology major back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Freud was roundly denigrated at the time as non-scientific, since behaviorists were ascendant at that time. Histories of Freud and the Freudians tended to be either dismissive or hagiographies. This is a good example of modern history as applied to the Freudians in a time when people in the inner circle have for the most part died off and there is less paranoia about revealing some of the underbelly of the times and the movement itself. I enjoyed this and would recommend it to nearly anyone with an interest in this period and the players involved.

An excellent read if a long read. The subject matter is not for everyone.

sempre meglio il libro che il film/sempre meglio il testo originale e non una traduzione/autore affidabile/chiaro e dettagliato/analitico e non dogmatico

Thank you for the book. Very fast delivery and good quality. Highly recommended.